October 2005

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Minneapolis living wage measure moves forward

Filed under: Minneapolis

The ways and means committee of the Minneapolis City Council voted to toughen up the city's living wage ordinance this afternoon. The measure passed 4-2, with council members Barret Lane and Dan Niziolek in opposition.

Under the new ordinance companies that contract with the city to provide services or that receive financial subsidies from the city will be required to pay 130 percent of the federal poverty level. In current dollars that works out to $12.09 per hour--or just over $25,000 a year. If the company provides health insurance, the wage requirement drops to 110 percent of the poverty level, or $10.23 an hour.

The ordinance will come before the full council for a vote on Friday, but passage is already assured. Nine council members have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, a veto-proof margin.

There are some loopholes in the measure, however. Small businesses and nonprofit groups that bring in less than $1 million in revenue annually or have fewer than 20 employees aren't subject to the wage strictures. Nor are nonprofit groups that provide health and social services to poor people or organizations that run job-training programs. In addition, companies can be granted a waiver from the salary requirements if a simple majority of the city council votes in favor of it.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the living wage ordinance is that it has a credible enforcement mechanism. Companies that are found to violate the law will be penalized 20 percent of their contracts. Additionally, the offending organization will be barred from reapplying for municipal contracts for one year.

The chief concern expressed at today's public hearing was that the policy would isolate Minneapolis, causing businesses to flea to surrounding municipalities in order to avoid paying higher wages. City council president Paul Ostrow brought up the smoking ban as a well-intentioned effort that has had an adverse financial impact on the city by driving bar patrons to St. Paul and other surrounding municipalities.

"The city of Minneapolis can not go it alone on these matters," he told the council. "It has to be regional."

Progress on passing a similar measure in St. Paul has stalled pending the outcome of the current mayoral race. Ryan Greenwood, executive director of Progressive Minnesota and co-chair of the Yes! Living Wage Coalition, which has spearheaded the effort, says that Mayor Randy Kelly wanted too many loopholes written into the ordinance before he would endorse it, such as exempting part-time and seasonal workers. "It became clear to us that to get something through him we were going to have to leave too many workers behind," says Greenwood.

He notes that mayoral challenger Chris Coleman has fully endorsed the living wage effort, as have a majority of the city council members. The coalition hopes to re-galvanize efforts in St. Paul after the November election.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 31, 2005 3:34 PM | Comments (0)

 

10/31: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Elaine Cassel discusses the importance of Scooter Libby's indictments at Civil Liberties Watch.

Jim Walsh has this week's must-have songs at The Walsh Files.

THESE DAYS

House Republicans voted to cut student loan subsidies, child support enforcement and aid to firms hurt by unfair trade practices as various committees scrambled to piece together $50 billion in budget cuts.

Toddlers who are skinny at age two, and then rapidly put on weight, are up to three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease as adults than their chubbier playmates, a new study suggests.

Carl Levin of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, vowed to defeat President Bush's choice for chief Pentagon spokesman, citing an op-ed article the nominee wrote in April accusing American television networks of aiding Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Tucker is back in Minneapolis after spending a bit of time in Canterbury. Read about his efforts to retrieve his bride from Scotland, using words like "lorry" and "arse-hole" at The Life and Times of an Ex²-Pat Yank.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman plays Stanley, a conservative trans-sexual who's about to take the final step to becoming the woman he always wanted to be, until he finds out that he is the parent of a long-lost 17 year old son in TransAmerica.

The classic Match Game nipple slip-up

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"You know you are really famous when becoming a comic character."

-- 87-year-old anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, on a new series of comic books chronicling his life created to get more young South Africans to read

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 31, 2005 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

 

Lino Lakes Correctional Facility: the other body of Christ

Filed under: National

A federal trial taking place in Iowa this week could determine the future of faith-based initiatives, or at the very least, the future of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, a Bible-based prison reform program offered at prisons in Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota. The IFI program has been offered at Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, just north of the Twin Cities, since July 2002.

The lawsuit filed against Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility by the D.C.-based organization Americans United for the Separation of Church and State contends that IFI is unconstitutional because it uses state and local tax dollars to promote Christianity. The Iowa Legislature has appropriated $310,000 from the Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust for a value-based program at Newton. In Minnesota, 22 percent of IFI's funding comes from the state.

The lawyer for Americans United told the AP that the program has turned an entire unit of a state prison into an evangelical church. The lawsuit also claims that prisoners who sign up for the program get preferential treatment such as separate living quarters, special visits from family members, and access to computers. And according to prisoners who have testified, in order to be adopted into the program they must sign an agreement that they will subscribe to the teachings of InnerChange, which only promotes Christianity. In other words, Jews, Muslims, and anyone else who isn't Christian must convert in order to be a part of the reform program. The trial is expected to continue through next week.

Posted by at October 28, 2005 11:05 AM | Comments (2)

 

McLaughlin for mayor and the smoking ban

Filed under: Minneapolis

County commish, er, clarifies position *cough, cough*

For some folks, the biggest issue in a rather indistinctive Minneapolis mayoral race is the smoking ban. There are actually two of them: One banning smoking just about anywhere indoors in Minneapolis, and one banning smoking just about anywhere indoors in Hennepin County.

Much ado was made over the summer when Hennepin County decided to "review" the ban after bar owners suffering from a deep downturn in business intensely lobbied the seven county commissioners. All eyes were on Peter McLaughlin, likely the swing vote for any kind of repeal, and a mayoral candidate who had sought to distinguish himself from his foe, incumbent R.T. Rybak.

Bar owners rallied behind McLaughlin, holding a fundraiser for him right after he voted to have the county do a study on the ban. The catch--that he couldn't have a role in repealing the county smoking ban if he were elected mayor--was apparently lost on those folks.

At any rate, it seems their enthusiasm for candidate McLaughlin was perhaps a little naive. McLaughlin certainly gave lip service to reviewing the ban, and pushed for the county to go forth with a study on the economic effects.

(The study, completed at the end of last month, has been largely misrepresented in other media. Liquor sales increased in Minneapolis over a three-month period this year compared to last, but at a much slower rate than the increase had been prior to the ban. There is ample evidence that the ban is killing the independent small-bar owner.)

But it seems McLaughlin isn't ready to get his hands too dirty on the issue. McLaughlin was recently asked if he was at all interested in repealing the ban, and recasting it as something similar to the partial ban in Ramsey County.

"The ban will never be repealed," McLaughlin said. "That has never been the intent. What we are looking at, in my view, is a waiver for some of the smaller bars that are hurting."

McLaughlin went on to talk about the bars in Hennepin County that would qualify for his vision of the waiver--bars that sell more liquor than food, which amounts to "about four percent of the bars in all of Hennepin County. That's all I'm lookin' at."

In other words, McLaughlin is hardly the savior that many bar owners thought he was. But his position gave him a push during the doldrums of a rather uneventful campaign, and may have earned him some short-term support.

Of course, McLaughlin won't have to reveal his position any further in this election season--and risk alientating potential voters on either side of the issue. The Hennepin County board is going to have yet another public hearing on the ban on November 15th, one week after election day.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at October 28, 2005 10:30 AM | Comments (16)

 

Crime blotter: West Bank flower peddler in critical condition

Filed under: Crime

Anyone who's spent a decent amount of time hanging out in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis knows Patrick Ashang. For years the 47-year-old Nigerian-born flower salesman has been a fixture in area watering holes like the Viking Bar, the Red Sea, and Palmer's Bar, notable for his ever-present grin.

"He's a West Bank-er," says Russon Solomon, co-owner of the Red Sea. "He came here at least twice a day. He would take a rest here. It's very sad what happened to him."

On October 18th, Ashang was peddling flowers on Cedar Avenue when he was accosted by a 29-year-old man named Zaki Mohamed Sugule. According to a criminal complaint subsequently filed in Hennepin County District Court, Sugule demanded that Ashang sell him a rose for less than the standard price. When Ashang refused, Sugule allegedly picked up a large rock and threw it at the flower salesman's head, knocking him unconscious.

Ashang regained consciousness long enough to identify his assailant and was then taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. Apparently his condition subsequently took a turn for the worse. Owing to confidentiality issues, HCMC will only report that he remains at the hospital, nearly two weeks later, in critical condition. According to the criminal complaint, Ashang suffered a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma.

Sugule was arrested and charged with felony counts of assault in the second and third degree. At the time of his arrest, according to the police, he smelled of alcohol and was chewing khat, a stimulant popular with Somali immigrants.

The attack has saddened West Bank denizens. "He was a friendly guy, always had a smile," says one regular patron of the Viking Bar. "It's disgusting that somebody would do that to him."

Posted by Paul Demko at October 28, 2005 9:26 AM | Comments (2)

 

Rove/Plame: A Fitzmas crowd did gather

Filed under: Rove/Plame

Okay, just short strokes this morning:

Raw Story reports that Patrick Fitzgerald will hold a press conference today at 1 pm central time. It's a foregone conclusion that Scooter Libby will be indicted.

Not Rove, however. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the investigation will be extended--and that Rove's lawyers have been advised he won't be indicted today, but "remains in legal jeopardy."

The NYT and WashPost, meanwhile, are diametrically opposed as to whether the Fitzgerald investigation will be extended. Times says yes; WashPost says no.

I'm betting the confusion stems from the matter of whether this grand jury will be extended (maybe not, since it has already been extended before) or a new one impaneled.

(Fitzmas card graphic from azstarnet.)

Posted by Steve Perry at October 28, 2005 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

 

10/28: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco at Couch Pundit has some great vintage comic book covers in honor of Halloween.

A local country station has won the CMA Award for Best Major Market Country Station, and that gives Jack Sparks something to chew on at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

The Washington Post reports the NFL will consider relocating the Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday high oil and natural-gas prices helped its third-quarter profit surge almost 75 percent to $9.92 billion, the largest quarterly profit for a U.S. company ever, and it was the first to ring up more than $100 billion in quarterly sales.

The Wyrd Sisters, a little-known Winnipeg folk group, allege that Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire contains a scene with a musical group bearing their name, and have secured a Nov. 4 court date to apply for an injunction barring distribution of the film.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Bruce Scroggins is a Virgo who proudly calls himself a simple man who loves Jesus. Visit this Minneapolitan's political and religious blog at The Truth in LOVE.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The Village Voice: 50 Covers/50 years gallery

Yes But No But Yes ranks the Top Ten Female Streakers of all time. [NSFW]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right. I don't think that this is a permanent condition, but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."

-- Former Sen. John Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, after meeting with students at the Bill Clinton School of Public Service, a graduate branch of the University of Arkansas on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library

"Messed-up teeth are so sexy."

-- Elizabethtown actress Kirsten Dunst

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 28, 2005 6:45 AM | Comments (0)

 

Spotted: hit and near-run

Filed under: Spotted

At around 3:15 on Tuesday afternoon a guy who seemed to appear from the cracks in the pavement darted across Nicollet from 27th Street. It looked like he was attempting to evade two oncoming cop cars, and another that was stopped on 27th. One cop car, going north on Nicollet, screeched to a rolling stop before hitting the black late-teen/early-twentysomething male. There was a thud, the suspect rolled to the ground, and then wobbled on bent ankles as he tried to pick himself up and run again.

A few staggering half-steps later, he again was brought to the ground by the cop who struck him with his car, though by this time the cop was out of the car and using his hands to wrap the man's arms around his back. The suspect lay face-first on Nicollet as the cop cuffed him, picked up something that had fallen from the young man's pocket, and then placed him in the back of the cop car and drove off, two other cop cars in tow. So why was this guy sprinting from the cops, only to literally run into them? According to the 5th Precinct, there is no record of the incident or the arrest.

Posted by at October 27, 2005 4:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

Redistricting MPLS: How it really went down

Filed under: Minneapolis

Ward rejiggering still taints council races

With less than two weeks to go before a citywide election cycle culminates in Minneapolis, it's clear that the new ward boundaries that go into effect in January still loom large in this year's campaigns.

While much has been written in City Pages about the practical effects of the redrawing of electoral maps based on 2000 Census data--the pitting of two lefty incumbents against each other in the new Sixth Ward, and two black incumbents having to square off in the new Fifth--no one has spoken candidly about the intent behind the process.

(A prescient primer by CP's Britt Robson--from three and a half years ago--is here.)

But one source with close knowledge of the the backroom wheeling and dealing recently spoke with City Pages about what politicos involved hoped to gain from it.

The source, who was not on the redistricting commission and spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirms the oft-repeated belief among critics of the redistricting: Namely that much of the shenanigans revolved around the DFL party wanting to gain an upper hand against what was then a burgeoning Green Party.

"The Dems wanted the Greens worked on," the source says.

And it worked accordingly, with Green Party members Natalie Johnson Lee and Dean Zimmermann having to face incumbents Don Samuels and Robert Lilligren in the Fifth and Sixth, respectively. Those are the only current officeholders facing an incumbent challenger.

But that move--which survived a suit by Johnson Lee and Zimmermann, thus far--came with other negotiations.

Redistricting in Minneapolis comes every 10 years, and is done by an 11-person panel that consists of a chair and two members from each of the state's "majority" parties. Back in 2000, that meant the Republicans, DFLers and Independence Party each had two representatives. The city council gets a "majority" and "minority" party appointee, which meant yet another Democrat and one lone Green. The commission is rounded out by two Park Board appointees.

The idea, according to the city's web site, is to have wards that "shall consist of contiguous compact territory not more than twice as long as it is wide." Additionally, "whenever possible, ward boundaries shall follow the centerline of streets, avenues, alleys and boulevards." Finally, "population shall be determined by use of the official population as stated by census tracts and blocks and the official United States census. The population in Minneapolis based on the 2000 Census is 382,618. The population quota or ideal population per ward is 29,432."

(A piece on the history of the redistricting ran in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine. And maps of before and after in Minneapolis are here. And here's a State of Minnesota page dedicated to the topic.)

That spirit of the law was not neccesarily followed locally.

For starters, according to the source, the Third Ward was set up basically to be handed to Kari Dziedzic, daughter of former city council member, former Minneapolis cop and current Park Board member Walt Dziedzic. Incumbent Joe Biernat was run out of office on a federal indictment, and Samuels filled the void in a special election in 2003.

Samuels now faces Johnson Lee in the Fifth for reelection, and many old-guard DFLers are lined up behind him. "The Democrats couldn't be happier," says the source. (The main Third Ward candidate, Diane Hofstede, a longtime DFLer and Library Board member, takes on the Green Party's Aaron Neumann.)

But, of course, Republicans and Independents had to be satisfied as well. Independents got their viable candidate in Lisa McDonald, a former rep for the 10th ward who lost in the last mayoral primary and now is running in the city's 13th ward. The last two council reps from that ward, Steve Minn and Barret Lane, were independents, and McDonald is an independent with a small "i."

Meanwhile, Republicans haven't been represented at city hall for a generation. And nobody is eager to wear the moniker in a town where Nader could run for president tomorrow and get 20 percent of the population excited.

So what happened, according to the source, was a great effort to find a "Republican opportunity ward."

That ward is the Seventh, which is currently run by incumbent Lisa Goodman, and she echoes the scenario brought up by the source.

Goodman's ward picked up major chunks of downtown from the Fifth Ward on the north side. Most of the new area in her ward is along the valuable riverfront on the west side of the Mississippi--where a new conservative constituency has cropped up thanks to high-end housing that has boomed in recent years.

Another person close to redistricting insists that Goodman had no hand in the redistricting, but there was an idea that many of these new residents made it clear that they wanted Goodman--more sympathetic to their conservative bent than Natalie Johnson Lee, who has represented these burgeoning neighborhoods--as their council member.

"There is no doubt that the intent was to have a Downtown ward available to Republicans," says our main source here. "All the Republicans are moving to Downtown, and there was no way that particular hoi polloi was going to let Natalie represent them."

The end result is that the Fifth Ward is 83 percent minority and overwhelmingly poor. That's known in redistricting parlance as "packing," and is theoretically illegal. But few courts have wanted to touch redistricting cases.

With that, there was only one remaining ward for the politicos to mess with. Well, two, really. Eighth Ward leader Robert Lilligren, who leans about as left as one can without being a Green, was suddenly cast in the Sixth Ward. Dean Zimmermann, who is an actual Green, was forced to move to retain the ward he represented. It's not clear who has the upperhand in that race, but it's worth noting that Zimmermann is being investigated by the FBI.

So, the Eighth Ward, which is one of the poorest in the city, and has been dominated by minorities at the polls for two decades, is now a contest between two white candidates, Marie Hauser and Elizabeth Glidden. It will be the first time the ward has been represented by a white candidate (Lilligren is American Indian) since 1983.

"We called it the Eighth whore," the redistricting source says, noting that the redistricting commission lumped parts of the relatively well-to-do Kingfield neighborhood into Ward Eight. "The bone to the wealthy, white DFL leadership was that they could have a new chunk of the ward to prop up a constituency."

In other words, all politics is local. But, apparently, so is gerrymandering. There are no other real challenges for current sitting council members, though a surprise or two could happen.

Even so, the process in Minneapolis was twofold: 1) Ensure that the DFL stays in some kind of predominate power; and 2) Make everybody else skew to the right, poor communities of color be damned.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at October 27, 2005 4:05 PM | Comments (4)

 

Allegory in the Making

Filed under: Health Care

What do these three stories about health insurance add up to?

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart is pondering ways to cut its benefits costs by hiring healthier workers and imposing policies that make working for Wal-Mart less attractive to people who can't get or stay healthy. The Journal's site is subscription-only, but here's a taste:

The Wal-Mart memo to the company's board of directors proposes incorporating physical activity in all jobs to discourage the infirm from applying. For example, the memo suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for "all cashiers to do some cart gathering." The memo also promotes health-savings accounts, which are funded by workers' pretax dollars and can be diverted to retirement accounts or rolled over to pay for health care the following year. Health-benefits specialists say these accounts are most appealing to younger, healthier workers. "It will be far easier to attract and retain a healthier work force than it will be to change behavior in an existing one," says the memo, which was previously disclosed in the New York Times yesterday. "These moves would also dissuade unhealthy people from coming to work at Wal-Mart."

This latest example of the corporate compulsion to dunn people for the fact that their health care costs money got me to thinking of a story published two months ago in the New Yorker. In it, Malcolm Gladwell argues that thinking like Wal Mart's is the reason this country can't come up with anything resembling a rational approach to providing health care to everyone.

In the past few decades a particular idea has taken hold among prominent American economists which has also been a powerful impediment to the expansion of health insurance. The idea is known as "moral hazard." Health economists in other Western nations do not share this obsession. Nor do most Americans. But moral hazard has profoundly shaped the way think tanks formulate policy and the way experts argue and the way health insurers structure their plans and the way legislation and regulations have been written. The health-care mess isn't merely the unintentional result of political dysfunction, in other words. It is also the deliberate consequence of the way in which American policymakers have come to think about insurance.

"Moral hazard" is the term economists use to describe the fact that insurance can change the behavior of the person being insured. If your office gives you and your co-workers all the free Pepsi you want--if your employer, in effect, offers universal Pepsi insurance--you'll drink more Pepsi than you would have otherwise. If you have a no-deductible fire-insurance policy, you may be a little less diligent in clearing the brush away from your house. The savings-and-loan crisis of the nineteen-eighties was created, in large part, by the fact that the federal government insured savings deposits of up to a hundred thousand dollars, and so the newly deregulated S. & L.s made far riskier investments than they would have otherwise. Insurance can have the paradoxical effect of producing risky and wasteful behavior. Economists spend a great deal of time thinking about such moral hazard for good reason. Insurance is an attempt to make human life safer and more secure. But, if those efforts can backfire and produce riskier behavior, providing insurance becomes a much more complicated and problematic endeavor.

Finally, and then I'll leave you to read these three stories and decide for yourself whether you don't think they add up to a bad case of blind men groping an elephant, consider Robert Kuttner's take on GM's attempts to blame workers' health care costs for its precarious financial position.

It would be a mistake to conclude that high wages or excess health benefits are bankrupting U.S. industry. Look at our competitors. Japanese labor costs in the auto industry are comparable to American ones and German wages are far higher.

There are, however, two offsetting differences. First, the Japanese and Germans are ahead technologically and have a knack for making reliable cars that consumers want to buy. Second, their healthcare is financed socially.

So GM's biggest problem is not labor costs; it's that except for its profitable SUVs (which are becoming white elephants as gas prices rise), too few consumers are buying GM's products. When management makes dumb decisions about design, quality, or marketing, autoworkers end up paying the price.

GM spends also $5.6 billion a year on healthcare -- more than it spends on steel. Its foreign competitors spend nothing on healthcare. So GM and the UAW are common victims of America's failure to have national health insurance.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at October 27, 2005 4:01 PM | Comments (2)

 

GLBT publishing company goes belly up

Filed under: Business

Donna Gimbut, principal owner of Living Out Media Group and Three Dollar Bill, has filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The Minneapolis-based companies published gay and lesbian service directories in at least six cities around the country, as well as Living OUT, a local bi-weekly newspaper.

In August I wrote an article detailing the companies' dubious financial practices. Numerous advertisers, both locally and around the country, alleged that they had paid for advertisements that were never printed. In addition, former employees claimed to be owed hourly wages and sales commissions.

At the time Gimbut was nowhere to be found. She didn't respond to voicemail messages and a trip to the company's offices proved fruitless. Nor did she subsequently respond to the allegations detailed in the article.

The bankruptcy filing, dated October 12th, shows the depths of Gimbut's financial difficulties. According to the court document, she has debts of $342,065 and assets of just $80,367. Among the debts owed are $12,159 to ECM Publishers, of Coon Rapids, $230 to The Minnesota Daily, and $402 to a local Merry Maids franchise. Her largest outstanding bill: $130,000, owed to Moore North American, of San Diego.

Gimbut lists three automobiles as personal property--a 2003 BMW, a 2002 Isuzu Trooper, and a 2002 BMW--but the latter two vehicles have been repossessed. Gimbut's current income is claimed to be just $3,094.

In addition, Gimbut and her businesses have now been sued five times since June in Hennepin County District Court. Two plaintiffs, both former employees, have received default judgments totaling $5,202.50. The other three cases, involving either aggrieved advertisers or former employees, are still pending.

Given Gimbut's perilous financial condition it seems unlikely that any of these folks will ever see a dime.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 27, 2005 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

 

10/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Dylan Hicks and his toddler will have to agree to disagree about Black Eyed Peas's "My Humps" at Hicky's Infrequently Updated Blog.

We congratulate Diablo Cody on reaching the 21st century at Pussy Ranch.

Peter Scholtes has photos from Saturday's Samba Mapangala show at the Blue Nile at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

President Bush today "reluctantly accepted" Harriet Miers' withdrawal from her nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a statement from the White House.

Hall of Famer Joe Morgan bemoans the declining racial diversity in Major League Baseball as the Houston Astros become the first team in 50 years to not have an African-American on their World Series team.

Variety reports that the Weinstein brothers' newly formed studio, The Weinstein Co., will develop a TV series based on the graphic novel-turned movie Sin City which will follow the 2006 big screen sequel.

The Ku Klux Klan plans to rally in Austin, Texas, to support the anti-gay marriage amendment set for the Nov. 8 ballot.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Help welcome St. Paulite Darlene to the blogosphere. The writer and proofreader is honing her craft at Human Nature Nuggets, which also happens to be a part of a balanced breakfast.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Wacky and painful bloopers from Nintendo's Mario

How to Become a Republican [via Andrew Sullivan]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"As for Mr. Cheney: He will be remembered as the vice president who campaigned for torture."

-- From an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 27, 2005 6:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

Dazzle 'Em with Details

Filed under: Business

Northwest Rebuts Star Tribune Investigation

There's a statement from Northwest Airlines Executive VP for Operations Andy Roberts in today's Star Tribune taking the paper to task over an October 2 front-page story about maintenance during the two-month-old mechanics' strike. It appears on the opinion page, even though it reads like the kind of letter newspapers--this one among them--often get from corporate public relations staffers following the publication of a long and damaging article. It's looooong on details and technical jargon and probably intended to look like a laundry list of errors made by the reporters, but to be so dull and impenetrable that most readers won't absorb anything other than its size.

We could stack the reply up against the story and take a stab at reconciling it, much in the style of those campaign ad dissection stories TV stations roll out right about this time each year, but that's really an exercise better conducted by the reporters who pieced together the story and their editor(s). Alas, in this case all readers get is the company's statement, unrebutted and without any helpful context. The end result? Northwest was allowed to leave the impression that two storied investigative reporters were firing blanks.

Consider:

Regarding the internal Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors' reports highlighted in the article, the paper did not state whether it obtained its source documents from the FAA through a Freedom of Information Act request or from another, unofficial source. Readers may not realize fully that FAA inspector reports are internal documents exchanged between the federal agency and its employees. Similar to a reporter's notebook, they contain observations and information, but they are not designed to draw official conclusions.

Now, a quick look back at the story in question reveals that we aren't talking about random notes slipped to a hungry scribe by a disgruntled worker with an axe to grind. I don't know where the Strib got these reports (although there are some whistleblowers in the food chain who have aired these same safety complaints to Minnesota's lawmakers), but they are official documents, and in quoting them Strib reporters Paul McEnroe and Tony Kennedy went to great lengths to carefully describe what they did and didn't prove. To describe them as internal documents is disingenuous; they're "internal" to a taxpayers' agency that serves a crucial public safety function. They are better described as public records; indeed, reams of them are available online or from document clearinghouses.

You, Jane Q. Public, could cozy up to a nice stack of them tonight, now that "West Wing's" been moved to Sundays. Except that the exercise would be enough to send you scurrying to read the documentation that arrived along with your new dishwasher. Which returns me to the point. Had Northwest's letter arrived at this newspaper, the writers would have been offered a chance to defend their work--not rebut Northwest's opinion of the story, but respond to allegations concerning facts and ethics. Suppose McEnroe and Kennedy had been offered that chance, and that rather than engaging in a semantic debate they had chosen to argue that Northwest's letter in no way discredited their carefully documented story? Again, we aren't privvy to the reporting here, but we imagine there's at least a chance Northwest would have heard the response and pulled the letter.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at October 26, 2005 5:02 PM | Comments (0)

 

Hardball politics in St. Paul

Filed under: St. Paul

St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly's endangered re-election campaign is ratcheting up the rhetoric. In a mailing received by St. Paul voters this week, his opponent Chris Coleman is pictured with his mouth zippered shut. The headline on the piece reads, "Chris Coleman has a plan to raise taxes and spend your money. He just won't tell you what the plan is before the election."

The piece then goes on to use some fuzzy math to portray Coleman as a truly terrifying menace to taxpayers. For instance, the mailing notes that when the city council voted to raise St. Paul's property tax levy by 67 percent more than what was proposed by Mayor Kelly, "Chris Coleman was silent!" Of course, this is another way of saying that the city council voted to raise the property tax levy by 5 percent, whereas Kelly wanted a 3 percent boost. But that doesn't sound nearly as menacing.

The Pioneer Press' indispensable City Hall Scoop also has the inside dope on a mailing that Kelly is sending only to East Side residents. The piece shamelessly attempts to capitalize on Kelly's roots in the area. "When your mayor comes from the East Side, you know his heart," it reads. "When your mayor comes from the East Side, you know where he stands. That's the East Side Way. That's the Randy Kelly way."

The Coleman campaign is not amused by the hardball tactics. It released a press release today criticizing the Kelly camp's recent actions. "These campaign tactics clearly signify Randy Kelly continues to subscribe to false Rovian attacks in an attempt to distort Chris Coleman's record in the final days of the campaign," Coleman spokesman Bob Hume says in the release.

Click on the image below to see the larger version:

Posted by Paul Demko at October 26, 2005 2:08 PM | Comments (1)

 

Rove/Plame: Maybe today, or not; maybe this week, or not

Filed under: Rove/Plame

Patrick Fitzgerald and Co. arrived at the courthouse in Washington today shortly before 9 a.m. The Financial Times reports that "Indictments in the CIA leak investigation case are expected to be handed down by a grand jury on Wednesday" [read story], but that conflicts with the word from ABC's The Note this morning, and possibly with a story in Roll Call that hints Fitzgerald may extend the investigation past the expiration of this grand jury's term on Friday. Here's what The Note has to say about both:

ABC News' Jason Ryan has this guidance from a Justice Department official: NO ANNOUNCEMENT FROM FITZGERALD IS EXPECTED TODAY. (Though, it should be Noted, that it is possible that the grand jury could return an indictment today placed under seal--or a myriad of non-announcement developments.)...

This might or might not be a tea leave as big as all Rancho Cucamonga: Roll Call's Mary Ann Akers, in the only scoop of the cycle, hears that Fitzgerald paid a visit to Patton Boggs yesterday to see Karl Rove's attorney Robert Luskin. Akers says the hallways of the firm were abuzz with rumors that Fitzgerald will have to ask for an extension on the investigation.

Go to The Note.

It's no wonder the press is at such loose ends over what Fitzgerald will do, and when--just consider the discrepant possibilities the Roll Call story suggests. First, we do not know whether Fitzgerald really met with Robert Luskin, and if so, whether Fitzgerald told him the investigation might be extended. If he did, we do not know whether he meant that a) the investigation is not finished, or b) Rove should come to the table on a plea bargain now, lest Fitzgerald keep the whole Bush crew on the hot seat even longer.

Posted by Steve Perry at October 26, 2005 9:33 AM | Comments (0)

 

10/26: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Paul Demko wrote a song called "Dollar Store." Give it a listen at Live Nude Weblog!

Steve Monaco has a pretty dyspeptic president at Couch Pundit.

Peter Scholtes has more background on the recent Soul Asylum show, as well as a Stinson/Westerberg collaboration at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

At least 21 detainees who died while in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were the victims of homicide and usually died during or after interrogations, according to an analysis of Defense Department data.

The 2,000th American solider has been killed in Iraq.

For the first time since the fall of the Taliban's Islamic government four years ago, a journalist has been convicted by a Kabul court under Afghanistan's blasphemy laws.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Happy anniversary and happy bloggiversary to the dharma blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Fred Thompson sends Albert Brooks to India and Pakistan to find out what makes Muslims laugh in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.

A classic from the British game show Catch Phrase.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We could make so much money if we would just write scripts like that and go shoot them and put big stars in them. But, first of all, we hate actors. And second, I just can't imagine being on a set of a movie like 'Deuce Bigalow.'"

-- South park co-creator Trey Parker, on why he and Matt Stone shy away from making live action movies

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 26, 2005 1:27 AM | Comments (0)

 

Tweaker madness

Filed under: Minneapolis

Back in the Carter and Reagan eras there were stories about "dusters," unruly teens so wacked out on PCP they'd jump through windows five stories high or sail a rusty Ford Granada over a cliff just to feel what it's like to fly. In 1980, two doctors did a study on PCP's image as perpetuated by the media and found, among many questionable and oft-repeated stories, 17 newspaper accounts of a duster gouging out his/her own eyes, nine accounts of PCP user cutting off a various body part, and five stories about a user wandering onto the highway to do push-ups. The doctors don't deny that PCP is a dangerous drug for the user; but the study focuses only on how anecdotes become apocrypha, cobbled-together and interchangeable stories that resemble horror tales and folklore from the past. In many cases, these angel-dust scare stories were unfounded or only held kernels of the truth.

In the last few years, meth undoubtedly has replaced PCP and marijuana before it as the new drug that supposedly turns users into demons who are prone to cause unspeakable harm if provoked. According to all the hype, meth users are scary and unpredictable creatures, like startled deer with antlers made of rusty knives and hooves soaked in batter acid. In a program about meth called "MPD Cops" that recently aired on the Metro Cable Network, the Minneapolis Police Department detailed what to do when approaching a "tweaker." Is it a cautionary tale or a repeat of Reefer Madness?

"Safety Tips When Approaching a Tweaker"

1. Keep your distance--seven to 10 feet away and call police.

2. DO NOT shine bright lights at him/her. They are already paranoid and if blinded they are likely to run or become violent.

3. Slow your speach [sic] and lower the pitch of your voice. Tweakers hear sounds at a fast pace and high pitch.

4. Slow your movements. Decreases chance that tweaker will misinterpret your physical actions.

5. Keep your hands visible. Since the tweaker is already paranoid, if they cannot see your hands they might feel threatened and become violent.

6. Keep the tweaker talking. They can be extremely dangerous when silent. This often means their paranoid thoughts have taken over reality and anyone on the scene can become part of their delusion.

While these tips sound like what to do when approaching a 300-pound rabid raccoon, a 1999 study by the National Institute of Justice found that meth users were significantly less likely to be charged with violent crimes than other drug arrestees. Only 16 percent of meth users studied were arrested for violent behavior. Alcohol use, however, played a role in at least 30 percent of violent crimes in 2002.

Posted by at October 25, 2005 11:29 AM | Comments (2)

 

10/25: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

City Pages staff writer and musical raconteur Jim Walsh has recently launched The Walsh Files, a weekly mix of 20 must-have tunes that will finally make your life worth living.

An open letter to Hugh Hefner's girlfriend from Diablo Cody at the Pussy Ranch.

Peter Scholtes has some photos from Freestyle Fridays at Digital City Music at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Rosa Parks, who helped trigger the civil rights movement in the 1950s, died Monday. She was 92.

The New York Daily News states Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it, but lately some junior staffers have also faced the boss' wrath during these dark days.

A man named Don Harper in a knockoff Elmo costume was taken down by a special task force created to combat a growing nuisance in the Hollywood tourist district: famous costumed characters who try to be photographed with tourists and sometimes badger them relentlessly for tips.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Check out the newly-redesigned Alt Text blog by blogger Ben Edwards while he's vacationing in California.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Withdraw Miers Page

The Singing Glaucoma Page

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I hope what this did is make them relax. We've been talking about having more fun around here."

-- Vikings Head Coach Mike Tice, in yesterday's Strib, probably not talking about that kind of fun

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 25, 2005 6:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

Rove/Plame: the must-read of the day

Filed under: Rove/Plame

It's seemed clear for more than a week now that Scooter Libby will probably fare worst when Patrick Fitzgerald concludes his CIA leak investigation; the main question in the minds of a lot of people I've talked to about the case in recent days is whether Karl Rove will face similarly grave charges. I doubt it, myself. But if what Jason Leopold and Larisa Alexandrovna have posted today at Raw Story proves to be an accurate summation of the case Fitzgerald has built, then it appears to be a blockbuster with or without a slew of charges against Rove. They write:

Those familiar with information provided to Fitzgerald say that shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, [Cheney staffer Donald] Wurmser was handpicked by Harold Rhode, a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of Net Assessment, a Pentagon "think tank," and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith to head a top secret Pentagon "cell" whose job was to comb through CIA intelligence documents and find evidence that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States and its neighbors in the Middle East so a case could be made to launch a preemptive military strike. Wurmser largely invented evidence that Iraq had close ties to Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, sources knowledgeable about his work told RAW STORY.

Although the CIA documents that Wurmser and his staff pored over never showed Iraq as being an immediate threat, Wurmser was dead set on finding and presenting evidence to Vice President Dick Cheney that suggested as much even if the veracity of such intelligence was questionable, sources close the probe said. Wurmser had met with now discredited Iraqi exiles who were part of the Iraqi National Congress, headed by Ahmed Chalabi, the infamous single source of Judith Miller's explosive columns published in the New York Times that said Iraq was acquiring nuclear bomb components, who is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, they added.

Read the Raw Story post.

Incidentally, I'm on vacation this week, so the updates here may be fewer and further between than usual. I'll certainly pop in if indictments are announced this week, as expected, and meantime keep an eye on Raw Story and firedoglake.

Posted by Steve Perry at October 24, 2005 5:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

Katherine Kersten Haiku Contest winners

Filed under: Media

Last week we asked readers of The Blotter, to try their hand at turning Kersten's prose into haiku (that's three-line verses with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third), taking as their fodder her 10/17 column on the Vikings' booty cruise and her 10/20 "money doesn't buy happiness" homily. We even promised prizes consisting of City Pages gear and movie promo swag to the winners.

Find out who won after the jump...

First prize:
Being poor is fun.
Look what it did for Jesus:
condo in the sky!

Posted by: Kristine Harley

Second prize:
Kinky Vikings are
all YOUR fault, fornicators!
Repent, culture fans!

Posted by: J. Hotch

Third prize:
Scold Vikings? Hardly.
Let's use logic of Limbaugh.
Throw flag at lefties.

Posted by: Rocco

Behold, the sweet prizes your creative endeavors have brought you...

First prize: 2005 Picked to Click CD, plus copious volume of City Pages promo gear--belt buckle, shot glass, stocking cap, fire-breathing rodent t-shirt--and a War of the Worlds promo postcard set.

Second prize: 2005 Picked to Click CD, CP stocking cap, ABC's of Terrorism poster, useless dwarf-sized Into the Blue babydoll t-shirt, Exorcism of Emily Rose poster.

Third prize: City Pages stocking cap, Picked to Click CD, sheaf of CP promotional kerchiefs we couldn't get rid of, 3 promotional music DVD's we couldn't get rid of (suitable for skeet-shooting).

Congratulations to the winners and entrants!

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 24, 2005 10:22 AM | Comments (4)

 

Long-rumored Village Voice/New Times merger is announced

Filed under: Media

The company that publishes The Village Voice and five other alternative newspapers [including City Pages] is to announce today an agreement to be acquired by New Times Media, the largest publisher in the market. The deal would create a chain of 17 free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million.

The merger--coming in the same week as The Voice's 50th anniversary--will undoubtedly raise questions about whether The Voice and its siblings can preserve their anti-establishment roots as part of a growing corporation.

But in an increasingly rocky media landscape, an equally important question is whether conglomeration will give the chain--which would include LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Miami New Times and The Dallas Observer--the editorial and financial muscle to compete against free competitors, both online and in print.

--NYT

Read David Schneiderman's memo to VVM staffers here.

Posted by Steve Perry at October 24, 2005 7:22 AM | Comments (1)

 

10/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Check in with The Blotter later this morning to find out who won the Katherine Kersten Haiku Contest!

Find out which famous dead person Diablo Cody portrayed at a recent Halloween soiree at Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

Category 3 Wilma makes landfall in southwest Florida.

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday unanimously struck down a state law that punished underage sex more severely if it involved homosexual acts, saying "moral disapproval" of such conduct is not enough to justify the different treatment.

Joseph Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame are preparing to file a civil suit against Bush administration officials who may have disclosed Plame's identity and scuttled her career as a covert CIA agent.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Minneapolitan Gopher-Goof wonders how Bush reconciles his faith with his deeds at The MN Life.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

North Country co-stars Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand re-team to bring MTV's animated freedom fighter Aeon Flux to the big screen.

Coffee shop employee Lev Yilmaz has created a terrifically droll animation about his more-successful friends. [via Drawn!]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I beat Mike Wallace on that. Mike gets his suits from funeral homes."

-- 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer, 74, on being labeled a "fashion icon" by Time Magazine, and why co-star Mike Wallace is not

"Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."

-- Pundit Ann Coulter, working the crowd at the third annual Ronald Reagan Black Tie and Blue Jeans BBQ in Alachua County, Florida

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 24, 2005 6:34 AM | Comments (0)

 

Mike Hatch enters governor's race on Monday

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

The worst kept secret in Minnesota politics will be formally let out of the bag Monday afternoon when Attorney General Mike Hatch will announce his candidacy for governor. Hatch will make his announcement at 1:30 p.m. at the Riverfront Ballroom at the St. Paul Radisson, where he will speak at the Minnesota Nurses Association convention.

 

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 21, 2005 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

 

Blackberry? Black Humor

Filed under: National

From today's Los Angeles Times:

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I just ate an MRE [military rations] and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants."

--Text message sent two days after Hurricane Katrina by Marty Bahamonde when he learned that an aide to his boss, Michael Brown, was fretting over dinner reservations.

There's an article associated with this, but really the quote says all you need to know.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at October 21, 2005 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

 

St. Paul joins the hit parade

Filed under: Crime

On Wednesday the St. Paul City Council approved paying out $115,000 to resident Patrick Fearing and his attorneys to settle a civil rights case filed three years earlier.

In July, Fearing won a rare victory in U.S. District Court when jurors determined that officers Jason Bain and David Stokes used excessive force while arresting Fearing on New Year's Eve of 2001. The officers were cleared on additional claims of assault and battery, while a third cop was determined to have done nothing wrong.

The case stemmed from a run-in late on New Year's Eve when officers showed up at Fearing's house to investigate a report of shots fired. Fearing, however, had merely been shooting off firecrackers with his three daughters. According to Fearing's version of events, as detailed in federal court filings, the officers threw him off a porch, broke his ribs, and slammed his face against the frozen ground roughly ten times. The city maintained throughout the case that the officers feared for their safety and used appropriate force.

The jury verdict is notable because its the first time since at least 1998 that St. Paul has lost a civil rights case. Between 1998 and 2004 the city successfully defended 28 cases. During that same time period the city settled 29 cases before trial for just over $800,000. It was also the first case this year that the city has paid out on, according to assistant city attorney Patrick Villaume III.

By contrast the City of Minneapolis has disbursed more than $10-million over the past decade to citizens claiming to have been abused by the police and more than $1-million this year alone. (See this July CP cover story, "Hit Parade Revisited.")

Attorney Jill Clark, who represented Fearing, says that an audio recording of the arrest, taped by one of the officers, played a key role in convincing jurors that her client's claims were credible. It also probably didn't hurt that Fearing is white, unlike most people who file police brutality claims.

Clark says that her client was simply happy to get an opportunity to describe what happened that night. "When the process works correctly it's cathartic," she says. "He wanted to tell his story."

Posted by Paul Demko at October 21, 2005 12:27 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Life and Hard Times of William McGuire

Filed under: Health Care

William McGuire, the CEO of the Minnetonka-based HMO United Health Care, should have another bountiful Christmas. Naturally, as chieftain of the second largest HMO in the nation, McGuire is handsomely compensated. But how, um, handsomely? According to Joel Albers, a health care economist with the organization Minnesota Universal Health Care Action Network, McGuire is the highest paid CEO in the history of Minnesota. Last year, McGuire reaped salary and stock options worth approximately $124 million; a hefty leap from his $94 million compensation package in 2003. By Albers' calculations, if McGuire were to accept a paltry $19 million for his past two years labors, there would be enough money left over to insure the 77,000 Minnesota children who currently lack coverage.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at October 21, 2005 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

 

She's Broke!

Filed under: Supreme Court

Finally, just as she goes down in flames, a reason to like Harriet Miers.

Today's Slate contains several interesting articles about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, but my hands-down favorite is one by a former securities analyst that points out that at 60, Bush's longtime crony has nowhere near enough money for a secure retirement. Yep, that's right, consigliore to George W. Bush, the man who decreed that his (now squandered?) political capital would be spent privatizing Social Security.

When Miers left Dallas law firm Locke Liddell in 1999--and the $624,000 salary she earned as a managing partner--her IRA (then a firm profit-sharing account) contained between $500,000 and $1 million. Every year since, however, this account balance has mysteriously declined, so much so that it now totals the aforementioned $207,000...

...So, where has all that retirement money been going? Perhaps to another expense category depressingly familiar to most Americans: health-care costs. According to the Journal and AP, Miers is the primary caretaker for her 91-year-old mother, who has required in-home and nursing-home care since the mid-1990s. That a decade of her mom's health care could consume several hundred thousand dollars set aside for Miers' own retirement won't come as a surprise to anyone who has had (or paid for) a long-term illness in recent years.

I possess a uterus, and damn strong feelings about retaining control of it, but I daresay the spectre of abortion becoming illegal in this country is softened considerably by the thought of a justice who has some recent experience with what it's like to find that being middle class has diddly to do with financial security.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at October 21, 2005 9:34 AM | Comments (0)

 

10/21: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes profiles Gino Washington and Geno Washington at Complicated Fun.

Corey Anderson has Dar Williams, John Hartford, and Hayseed Dixie in the Friday Random Ten at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

A recent State University of New York study showed that women who are directly exposed to semen are less depressed. The researchers think this is because mood-altering hormones in semen are absorbed through the vagina.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA regional director, told a Senate panel investigating the government's response to the Katrina disaster that he gave regular updates to people in contact with then-FEMA Director Michael Brown as early as Aug. 28, and was met with silence.

Actor Alexis Arquette, brother of Rosanna, David, and Patricia, is planning on broadcasting his sex change operation in a two-hour special on the A&E network.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

The trio of Memberblogger, Truth and Justice, and MnSky search the web for a little honesty at Truth Surfer.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Never invite Scorpy to a tail-touch game.

Tom Delay's mug shot

An unaired nude scene from the marital counselling episode of Family Guy. [NSFW]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH [POLITICAL PARTY PARSING EDITION]

"Republican politicians are the same as Democratic politicians in that they like to spend money. Democrats want to raise taxes to pay for it, and Republicans allow the next generation to pay for it."

-- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), in a speech to the George Washington University College Republicans [via The Hill]

"That's a difference between Democrats and Republicans -- we don't want them next door molesting children and murdering women."

-- Republican DA and New York senatorial candidate Jeanine Pirro, on the Democrats's love of child molesters and murderers

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 21, 2005 6:51 AM | Comments (0)

 

Sorry-wrong-number department

Filed under: Correspondence

From an e-mail with the subject head: "Don't Be a Loser With Your Powerball Winnings":

Dear G.R.,

It's official. One lucky person holds the only winning ticket for the $340 million Powerball jackpot. Once the identity is known, the first question will certainly be what are you going to do with all that cash?

Jerry Webb, CFP, Chairman of Minnesota-based Webb Financial Group says that those who come into money should be careful of their first steps. "There is an inherent excitement that comes with the receipt of unexpected money and many make foolish mistakes."

Webb explains, "Take your sweet time. Sit down with professionals including a good financial advisor, lawyer and accountant to determine goals and create a sensible plan. In the meantime, place the windfall in a money market account where it will be safe until an action plan is in place."

Most of all, Webb advises against rash decisions such as immediately quitting one's job. "Remember, there's no rush. You'd much rather take your time in the beginning then turn around in a year or two and have loss a large of amount of money," asserts Webb.

Speak with Jerry Webb to discuss what individual's [SIC] should do with a large financial windfall. For an interview contact Bradd DelMuto at 610-642-8253 or email Bradd@GregoryFCA.com.

Thank you for your consideration.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at October 20, 2005 5:08 PM | Comments (1)

 

Rove/Plame: Karl ratted out Scooter to grand jury

Filed under: Rove/Plame

Nothing personal; all in a day's work.

It's pretty clear now that Scooter will go down--but who's still sure that Rove will too? If a perjury charge for initially failing to disclose some of his Plame-related conversations to the grand jury is all Fitzgerald's got on KR, it may not be the stake through the heart for Rove's political career that everyone supposes.

Posted by Steve Perry at October 20, 2005 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

 

Gorbachev: Time for perestroika in US

Filed under: International

The United States is in need of its own dose of perestroika, or restructuring, Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who brought such reforms to the Soviet Union, said Tuesday....

"The world will not accept dictatorship or domination. We need dialogue," he said, speaking through a translator.

--AP

Posted by Steve Perry at October 20, 2005 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

End times are approaching--for the Katherine Kersten haiku contest!

Filed under: Media

[THURSDAY UPDATE: We'll close out this contest on Sunday and Corey will announce the winner (or winners) in his Morning Communique post on Monday. Meantime, as reader and haiku enthusiast Laura Bachinski points out, there is fresh meat today: a new column which asserts that lottery winners (and by extension, we're guessing, rich people) are no happier than paraplegics. We'll accept entries summarizing this piece in haiku form as well.]

You may have noticed that the Star Tribune redesign has cut the length of Metro section columns by a little over 40 percent, from ~850 words to ~500. As a result, it now takes the average newspaper consumer only 58 percent as long to ingest the latest offerings from Nick Coleman, Doug Grow, or Katherine Kersten.

But speed-readers' gain is the columnists' loss--it isn't easy to say anything coherent and well-formed in the space of 500 words; there is barely room to set a scene or frame an idea before it's time to wrap it up. Grow and Coleman show signs of struggling with their freshly downsized quarters.

Not Kersten, however. The shrinkage seems to have wrought no changes at all in her prose. This set the Kersten Studies scholars around here to thinking: Maybe her column could be usefully compressed even further for the convenience of readers. What follows is a sampling of five previous Kersten columns rendered as haiku verse.

Your mission is to do likewise with today's Kersten column on the Vikings booty cruise. The rules for writing haiku (in case, like me, you were unfamiliar with the form) are simple: three lines of 17 syllables total, divvied up so that 5 syllables appear in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third. The author of the verse we like best will receive a package including a CP t-shirt and some of the movie promo swag we've got around the office.

"100 years later, Rotary's motto rounds the globe," 10/13

The Rotarians
God I miss them, are they gone
along with my youth?

"More young women feel right at home," 10/5

I hate feminists
A woman's place is telling
young women their place

"Gratitude, not anger, comes from Astrodome," 9/14

So poor and so black
It's not my fault your life sucks
Please be more grateful

"Roots of gang violence feed off '60s," 7/18

Back in the sixties
I kept my legs together
and my eyes on God

"Recruits are undaunted by danger, Mom and Dad," 7/14

You are so selfish
All you parents of soldiers
Death builds character

Okay, your turn--submit your entries in the Comments field below.

Posted by Steve Perry at October 20, 2005 9:45 AM | Comments (61)

 

10/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes takes issue with our recent article about the Suicide Girls at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Republican leaders hope to pass in the House today a bill to cut mandatory federal programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and student loans by $50 billion over the next five years, instead of the previously planned $35 billion.

A prisoner in a Romanian jail has filed a lawsuit against God, blaming him for the troubles in his life. He wants the Almighty brought to account for failing to fulfill the commitments He undertook and for taking bribes.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps blocked all access to commercial e-mail services, such as Yahoo!, Hotmail, America Online and Google, from overseas government computers.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Steve Gigl has a few more ideas for improving the newly-redesigned Star Tribune. Check them out at Perspective and Soda.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Famous Women in Slips

Factotum, the film shot in Minneapolis and starring Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, and Marisa Tomei, is opening on November 18.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Families should not be deceived. The top three worst shows all contain crude and raunchy dialogue with sex-themed jokes and foul language. Even worse is the fact that Hollywood is peddling its filth to families with cartoons."

-- L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, naming FOX programs "The War at Home," "Family Guy," and "American Dad" at the top of PTC's annual listing of the worst prime-time shows for family viewing

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 20, 2005 6:52 AM | Comments (0)

 

Revolting pharmacists: Target edition

Filed under: Health Care

According to Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, a pharmacist working at a Target store in Missouri recently refused to fill a prescription for a 26-year-old woman who was seeking emergency contraception. Asked why, the pharmacist allegedly responded, "I won't fill it and I don't have to fill it and that my right!"

Not surprisingly, this caused considerable outrage in pro-choice circles. Among other things, Planned Parenthood complains that Target has consistently declined to elucidate its policies regarding the obligations of pharmacists. Contacted by City Pages today, Target spokeswoman Lena Michaud offered the following statement:

Like many other retailers, Target's policy ensures that a guest's prescription for emergency contraception is filled, whether at Target or at a different pharmacy [italics added] in a timely and respectful manner. This policy meets the health care needs of our guests while respecting the diversity of our team members.

Target places a very high priority on our role as a community pharmacy and our obligation to meet the needs of the patients we serve. Our guests